Praying for Your Field
Regardless of where we live or what we do, there is a mission field around us—even in our neighborhood. And we can have a part for others to come to know the Lord personally by praying and sharing the gospel. (This is second in a series on praying for neighborhoods).
Could our communities be truly transformed by Christ if every neighbor and neighborhood were prayed for? Yes! And we can do it in our private prayer time or when walking our neighborhoods.
Christians from numerous churches in one western city decided to do that one spring. The goal was for each participant or couple to pray blessings over five of their neighbors and to be available to them when needed.
They agreed to pray:
Five blessings for
Five Neighbors for
Five minutes a day
Five days a week for
Five weeks.
Each member of the congregation willing to participate was given a sheet of instructions, after being reminded to pray with a compassionate heart. The suggestions were:
Think of the word BLESS to remember the five important ways to pray for your neighbors:
B—Body: health, protection, strength
L—Labor: work, income, security
E—Emotions: joy, peace, hope
S-–Social: love, marriage, family, friends
S—Spiritual: Salvation, faith, grace. 1
Here are some Scripture suggestions to use as you lift your neighbors to the Lord in prayer:
B. Body. I pray that they may enjoy good health and that all may go well with them. May He give His angels charge over them. May God be their Lord, refuge and fortress, and save them from deadly pestilence (3 John 2; Psalm 91:10,11).
L: Labor: May the fruit of their labor bring blessings and prosperity. Lord, prosper them and give them a hope and a future. Lord, [for]You give strength to the weary and increase the power of the weak. (Psalm 28:2; Jeremiah 29:11; Isaiah 40:29).
E. Emotions: May the joy of the Lord be their strength. May those who fear You rejoice and may they put their hope in Your word. Peace be within their walls. (Nehemiah 8:10; Psalm 119:74.; Psalm 122:7).
S. Social: May their family experience peace and love in abundance. May the hearts of the fathers turn to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Help the fathers not provoke their children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord Help the children to honor their father and mother. May they be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another. (Jude 1:2; Malachi 4:6; Eph 6:4; Eph. 4:32)
S. Spiritual: Lord, I pray for their salvation, standing on the Scripture: “For If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” May the Lord bless them and keep them; may the Lord make His face shine on them, be gracious to them and give them peace. (Romans 10:9; Numbers 6:24-26).
Prayer For My Neighborhood:
Lord, I pray that those in my neighborhood will experience Your love. Strengthen the hedge of protection around us and station Your angels to guard us. I say no to the enemy’s efforts to cause strife and distrust among families living here. Touch those who need healing–some from disease, others from grief and broken relationships. I pray my neighbors will have strong marriages, family unity, security and a strong faith in you. Be with the parents of young school children in our neighborhood who need your wisdom and guidance. For neighbors suffering financial lack, show them the way to financial freedom. For those in their senior years who deal with loneliness and health challenges, meet their needs—letting them feel Your comfort and blessings. Lord, help me be a good neighbor, sensitive to encourage or help when needed, but not judging or interfering where I have no business. Lord, bless my neighbors and let your Kingdom come to this area, Amen.2
More Scriptures to study:
“Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly. Do not go about spreading slander among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the LORD. (Leviticus 19:15-16)
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-31)
“Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” (Jeremiah 29:7 NIV)
Footnotes:
1.Alvin Vander Griend, Intercessors for America Newsletter, March 1999, page 2. (Mr. Vander Griend was director of HOPE-Houses of Prayer Everywhere).
2. Quin Sherrer and Ruthanne Garlock, Warfare Prayers For Women, (Bloomington, Minnesota: Chosen Books, 2020), 216.
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